A gripping portrayal of London's dark criminal underbelly, published
in Penguin Classics with an introduction by Philip Horne.
The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity
from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After
running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver
finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable
characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog
Bull's Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning
master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate
Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of
fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by
an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.
This Penguin Classics edition of Oliver Twist is the first critical
edition to faithfully reproduce the text as its earliest readers would
have encountered it from its serialisation in Bentley's Miscellany,
and includes an introduction by Philip Horne, a glossary of Victorian
thieves' slang, a chronology of Dickens's life, a map of contemporary
London and all of George Cruikshank's original illustrations.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of
classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700
titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works
throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the
series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and
notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as
up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
